#61: The Baker's Secret

I read The Baker's Secret by Stephen P. Kiernan from start to finish today. Although not the easiest read, it was hard to put down.

On June 5, 1944, Emmanuelle (Emma) rises early to make bread for the occupying army, as she has done every day for the past few years. Little does she know that this is the last day she will do this.

At the age of thirteen, Emma became the apprentice to Ezra Kuchen, Uncle Ezra to the villagers of Vergers. Only 22 when our story begins, Emma watched in shame first as Uncle Ezra was forced to don a gold star, and in horror as he was arrested by the occupying army and summarily executed. After her father is arrested Emma begins to engage in acts of resistance, although she is never part of the Resistance.

Every morning Emma adds straw to the bread dough, enough to make 14 baguettes; 12 for the Germans, and 2 for her fellow villagers. Little by little, Emma becomes the center of a network of bartering and exchange among the villagers: bringing fuel, eggs, bread, and other necessities to friends.

Until June 5th. On that day, the network collapses. Emma, Didier (The Goat), and Odette (the owner of the cafe) are denounced by their fellow villagers and by the occupying troops. Facing execution at the hands of the brutal Nazi Captain who occupies her house, Emma once again acts courageously and leads the villagers on the path to redemption.

I really liked the last few paragraphs of The Baker's Secret. Amidst the bombings and gunfire on June 6, with their fate still unknown, "Who should swagger into the barnyard just then, but Pirate [Emma's rooster]. Feathers scorched and disheveled, he strutted before the soldiers undaunted, crowing at them in full volume: get out of his barnyard, get away from his roost" (page 304). Pirate, le coq, symbol of France, is the villagers of Vergers. Battered and beaten, but not defeated, he and they crow once again.

The events and invasions of D-Day on June 6, 1944 play a role in the novel, especially at the end. Vergers is situated one kilometer from the sea, along the Normandy coast. I did a brief search and Vergers seems to be a fictional town. However, in the acknowlegments, Kiernan mentions the book 100 Places in France Every Woman Should Go by Marcia DeSanctis and a guided visit around the villages, battlefields, and other historic sites of Normandy with Claire Lesourd. These and other secondary sources provided the historical background for the novel. Vergers appears to be no village and any village in Normandy at the time. I've visited the American Cemetery at Colleville-Sur-Mer twice.: the cemetery is humbling, the beaches are impressive, and the museum is excellent.  Here is a link to the cemetery's website: Normandy American Cemetery

#61 The Little Paris Bookshop by Nina George

Jean Perdu considers himself a literary apothecary and from his floating bookstore on a barge in the Seine, he prescribes books to his customers based on their moods, needs, and emotions. At the end of the novel is a list of books that comprise Perdu's Emergency Literary Pharmacy "fast-acting medicines for minds and hearts affected by minor or moderate emotional turmoil. To be taken in easily digestible doses (between five and fifty pages) unless otherwise indicated and, if possible, with warm feet and/or a cat on your lap" (p. 385). There are several cats in this novel. I have never seen such a bookstore, but I do enjoy the bouquinistes along the Seine.

I love the idea of a literary apothecary and the underlying belief that certain books are suited to certain people at given times. I tried to think of books that reflect my emotions and I'm not sure what I would pick. I do enjoy re-reading certain Agatha Christie's, but it's more because they are familiar not because of a given emotion. Some of the most memorable books I have read are those that make me cry or really connect with the characters, and I felt this way reading The Little Paris Bookshop.

"Reading--an endless journey; a long, indeed never-ending journey that made one more temperate as well as more loving and kind" (p. 142).

Monsieur Perdu embarks on a physical journey that is of course accompanied by books. Twenty years after the love of his life Manon left him, he dares to open a letter from her. What he reads sends him on a urgent quest to find Manon once again. Jean Perdu (Jean the Lost) decided to pull anchor and set off down the Seine towards Provence. He is joined by Max Jordan, a popular new author who is mis-understood by those around him. Without money or cellphones, they barter their way along the canals and rivers selling books and doing odd jobs. Along the way, Jean and Max meet other book lovers including Samy, and a food-loving Italian named Salvo Cuneo. As he looks for Manon, Jean wonders if he will ever be able to love again, specifically if he will be able to love his new neighbor Catherine.

Map of Jean Perdu's journey across France

#60 Cover Story

Cover Story by Erika Chase is the third book in the Ashton Corners mystery series.

Molly's childhood friend Teensy moves back to Ashton Corners and has published a book-- a modern and sexy Gone With the Wind. The Ashton Corners Mystery Readers and Cheese Straw Society plan several events to help Teensy promote her books. Before any of the events take place, Molly is attacked in her home and Teensy's books are stolen. Then Teensy's publisher is found dead and a former prisoner is found dead in Bob Miller's backyard along with counterfeit money. Bob is the retired police chief. Bob becomes chief suspect and police chief Mark must work with the FBI on the case.

Not content to let the police do their jobs, Lizzie and the rest of the mystery readers society work to solve the case and clear Bob's name.

I'm happy that I've reached 60 books. I started this project last July so it's taken me a little less than a year to reach this point. I'm hoping to reach 100 books by the end of December, so only 40 more to go.

Read and Buried: An Ashton Corners Book Club Mystery

Read and Buried is the second book in the Ashton Corners mystery series by Erika Chase. I talked about the first book, A Killer Read in April.

Lizzie Turner is asked to host author Derek Alton at the next meeting of the Ashton Corners Mystery Readers and Cheese Straw Society (they eat as much as they discuss). The other members agree and look forward to discussing Derek's best-seller Judgment. However, Derek proves to be nothing but trouble, starting with the "romantic" dinner he invites Lizzie to and ending with him being shot in Lizzie's living room. Naturally, suspicion falls on Lizzie.

Lizzie and the other club members work to solve the case and uncover un-published manuscript for a sequel to Judgment. As they delve into Derek's past, Lizzie and her boyfriend, police chief Mark, discover that Derek wasn't who he claimed to be. Someone from his womanizing past had had enough.

I like this series and find it engaging. Lizzie and Mark's romance develops. Her Siamese cats, Edam (the male) and Brie (the female) are helpful. And police officer Amber Craig is still hostile.

Also at the end of the book is a reading list for each of the members of the book club--providing 35 other mystery titles to peruse.

Unmentionable

I really enjoyed Unmentionable: The Victorian Lady's Guide to Sex, Marriage, and Manners by Therese Oneill.

Oneill transports her dear readers back to the Victorian Age, though not the romanticized version found in novels, movies, or tv shows. You, dear reader, are taken back to the nineteenth century as a relatively wealthy young woman. Oneill doesn't spare the truth as she humorously guides you through the expectations of being a lady. Such topics include:

• Getting Dressed: How to Properly Hide your Shame
• The Treacherous Art of Bathing
• Menstruation: You're Doing It Wrong
• Beauty: Scorch, Slather, and Stuff
• Courtship: Not-Talking Your Way Into His Heart
• Birth Control and Other Affronts to God
• Being a Good Wife: How to Avoid His Eventual Resentment for as Long as Possible
• It's Hysterical: The Least Funny Thing About Victorian Life

It should come as no surprise that scientific and medical knowledge about female sexuality and womanhood was almost exclusively provided by men (some of whom had no medical training whatsoever). Many of these topics, especially the chapters about menstruation, childbirth, and hysteria, are examples of the pathology of being a woman--a phenomenon that unfortunately still exists in the 21st Century.

L'Ombre chinoise

#57 L'Ombre chinoise (The Shadow Puppet) by Simenon

Simenon's Maigret is another detective that I like. The Maigret novels have a sense of atmosphere--lots of times they feature fog, rain, or other inclement weather. I think it would be fun sometime to find some of the places that are repeatedly mentioned as part of Maigret's haunts--the Boulevard Richard-Lenoir and the Quai des Orfevres. L'Ombre chinoise was published in 1957.

At 10 o'clock at night Maigret is summoned to 61 Place des Vosges which consists of a square of apartment buildings overlooking a central courtyard. There are two boutiques and a laboratory. M. Couchet, owner of the laboratories, is found shot in his office and a large sum of money has been stolen from the office safe.

Suspicion falls on:

• M. Couchet's son Roger who is a penniless, ne'er-do-well, and ether user. Roger frequently asked his father for money. 
• M. Couchet's first wife Mme Martin: Mme Martin has remarried and she and M. Martin live in an apartment at 61 Place des Vosges. Mme Martin spends much of her time watching people from behind their living room curtain; this is where the book's title comes from. Maigret first notices her shadow behind the curtain.
• Nine: M. Couchet's latest mistress. Nine is a good-hearted dancer at the Moulin Bleu.
• Mme Couchet: M. Couchet's second wife. She is from a wealthier background that he was. 

Valuable information is obtained from the resident busybody Mathilde who spends much of her time spying on people in the hallways. I consider Mathilde a second "ombre chinoise" or shadow puppet. 

The Colour of Milk

#56: The Colour of Milk by Nell Leyshon

"this is my book and i am writing it by my own hand. in this year of lord eighteen hundred and thirty one i am reached the age of fifteen" and so begins Mary's account of the events of 1831.

Mary is one of four daughters (Violet, Beatrice, and Hope) who work hard on their family's farm in England. Violet is beginning to discover her sexuality, Beatrice has a love of Scripture despite not being able to read, and Hope is short-tempered. Mary speaks her mind...a bit too much for her own good. She often suffers abuse at the hands of her father.

On Easter Sunday, the girls sneak out of the house to watch the sunrise. Supposedly, if they make a wish at this time, it will come true. Mary wishes her life would change.

Shortly thereafter, Mary is sent to work at the vicarage as a housemaid and caretaker for the vicar's wife. Though nearby, the vicarage is a world away from her family's farm and life as Mary knows it. Living at the vicarage may not have been the change Mary wished for.

The Colour of Milk is a quick read and is divided into five parts: spring, summer, autumn, winter, and spring.  I was reminded of Marie-Claire Blais' Une saison dans la vie d'Emmanuel (A Season in the Life of Emmanuel). Une Saison tells the story of a French-Canadian family at the turn of the 20th century. The story is told from Emmanuel's perspective (he is the sixteenth child). Une Saison is part of the anti-terroir literature in Quebec--a number of Emmanuel's sibling leave the family farm for the city and Mary's work at the vicarage and exposure to books also distances her from an agricultural life.